Overview
- Brian Ward announced his departure and Turqi Alnowaiser, a deputy governor at the Public Investment Fund, was named interim CEO, a move reported on Tuesday by multiple outlets.
- Ward led Savvy since its 2021 founding and oversaw roughly $38 billion of gaming investments, including major purchases of Scopely and Niantic.
- Savvy is reported to be closing a roughly $6 billion deal for Chinese mobile studio Moonton while the company still holds large unallocated capital for further deals.
- The PIF’s direct $55 billion leveraged buyout of Electronic Arts has created overlapping Saudi-owned gaming assets, which Bloomberg said has caused internal confusion about governance and strategy.
- The leadership change follows wider PIF management shifts and cost discipline efforts and could signal a push to better coordinate or consolidate Saudi gaming holdings and clarify commercial versus state objectives.